College News
College Students to Recruit at Farm Progress Show
Students from the College of Agriculture will meet with high school students and parents attending the 2006 Farm Progress Show in Amana Tuesday through Thursday, Aug. 29-31. The college has a recruitment exhibit in the ISU Extension tent at the show and will give away $3,000 in scholarships with two $500 drawings daily. A Professional and Scientific Council Retention and Recruitment grant is supporting the student's transportation and expenses.
Come to the College Fall Convocation Sept. 5
Faculty and staff are invited to the College of Agriculture's fall convocation on Tuesday, Sept. 5, beginning at 3:30 p.m. in the Food Sciences Courtyard. The convocation will include remarks by Dean Wintersteen and introduction of new faculty members.
New Students Barbecue Set for Sept. 5
College of Agriculture faculty and staff are invited to participate in a barbecue to welcome new students on Tuesday, Sept. 5. It will be held from 5:30 to 7 p.m. in the Kildee Pavilion and will serve pork burgers, chips, beans, cookies and lemonade. The meal is free of charge for freshmen, transfer students, faculty and staff, and $3 for upper-class students.
Dairy Farm Cam Lets You See Construction Progress
Construction at the new dairy farm is moving at a good pace, according to Mark Huss, Facilities Planning and Management engineer. You can see the work in progress on a web camera. Huss said the site utility, grading and driveway work is about 85 percent complete. Construction on the free stall building is about 20 percent complete. The posts are in and truss and roof work is about half done. One heifer building is 75 percent complete. The dry cow building posts were installed last week. The manure storage tank contract has been issued and construction will begin in October. The bid for the milking center, which is the main building, will be the first week in October with construction beginning this fall. Construction will be completed late next summer, with animals expected to move in September or October of 2007.
Alum Who Led Maryland Farmland Preservation Dies at 87 ISU
agriculture alumnus James Clark, Jr., 87, a farmer who was a Maryland state senator for 24 years, died of prostate cancer Aug. 18 at his Ellicott City farm, the Washington Post reported. Clark became involved with preserving Maryland's undeveloped land in the 1960s. Despite continuing development pressures and recent cuts in its funding, the program he helped develop has allowed Maryland to preserve almost 20 percent of its landscape as permanent open space. He received a bachelor's degree in animal husbandry in 1941 from Iowa State. (Washington Post, Aug. 22, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/21/AR2006082101569.html)
Protein Family's Role in Health Subject of Conference
The 15th Annual Growth Factor and Signal Transduction Conference will be held Sept. 14-17 at the Scheman Building. It is sponsored by the Department of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Molecular Biology with support from the Office of Biotechnology. The conference will bring together research leaders who are working on various aspects of proteins of the lipocalin family, which have been implicated in the regulation of immune response. Speakers will discuss studies to develop a basic understanding of the nature of the lipocalin protein family and to explain the physiological roles of various lipocalins in health and disease. For Iowa State personnel: registration is $60 (full) or $40 (student). Free registration and meal options are available for students who participate in the shuttle driving program.
Ag Study Abroad Workshop to Assist Students' Job Seeking
The "Market Your Study Abroad Experience" workshop Sept. 6 is designed to help returning study-abroad students use their international experiences to get a job. Objectives include: identifying useful skills gained from the study-abroad experience; learning how to showcase those skills during an interview or on a resume; and sharing international experiences with others. Speakers include Mike Gaul, College of Agriculture Career Services, and a panel from industry including Terry Lebo, the Hamilton Group; Jill Bidwell, Becker Underwood; and Kim Heckert, Dow. The workshop will be held from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. in 142 Curtiss. Pre-registration is required by Aug. 31 by e-mailing Jamie Harpeneau, jharp@iastate.edu.
P&S Grant to Boost Animal Science Recruitment
A Professional and Scientific Council Retention and Recruitment grant will aid the Department of Animal Science's efforts to attract undergraduates. The grant will support the development of a marketing tool for recruiting undergraduate students. Student opinions on recruitment and ways to distribute of materials will be investigated.
College Supports Weather Art Exhibit at Brunnier
The College of Agriculture and the Department of Agronomy are among the sponsors of an exhibition, "Obsessed: Image of Weather," at the Brunnier Art Museum from now through March 18. The exhibition features the works of five regional artists whose art repeatedly explores the sky. They have been partnered with atmospheric scientists from Iowa State "allowing an exchange of concepts, imagery and philosophies," according to a description of the exhibit.
ABE Faculty and Students Honored at Professional Meeting
Several agricultural and biosystems engineering faculty, staff and students were honored at the 2006 American Society of Agricultural & Biological Engineers annual meeting held recently in Portland. Extension agricultural engineer Mark Hanna received the 2006 Rain Bird Engineering Concept of the Year Award for the development of the Impellicone anhydrous ammonia manifold. Paul Boyd (M.S., AgE '99, Ph.D.,AgE '02) shared the honor. Emeritus professor Jeff Lorimor earned the G.B. Gunlogson Countryside Engineering Award honoring engineering contributions to the development and improvement of the countryside. Carl Bern, University Professor, was recognized for his major contributions to the development of standards during 2005, serving as the project leader for the development of standards on allowable storage time for shelled corn without dry matter loss due to fungal activity. Assistant professor Jacek Koziel's paper on odor characterization was one of nine papers out of 417 total that earned an honorable mention paper award. Student Karl Broer won the student paper competition. The ASABE Student Branch received first place honors for its initiative and club activities. The Agricultural Systems Technology Club placed second among the Student Mechanization Branch participants.
Kanwar to Coordinate International Workshop
Ramesh Kanwar, chair of the agricultural and biosystems engineering department, will serve as U.S. coordinator for the USDA-India Water Management workshop to be held in India Sept. 20-22. Professors from land-grant universities have been invited to develop a strategic plan for future collaborations in water management. The United States and India have agreed to develop an $80 million research and capacity building program.
Scientists Study Alternate Crops for Fuel Production
Crops not routinely found on Iowa farms -- switchgrass, Indiangrass, big bluestem, eastern gamagrass, sweet sorghum, triticale, kenaf -- fill several research plots on an Iowa State farm west of Ames. ISU researchers are studying these crops for their fuel production potential.
Researchers Explore Turning Ethanol into Beverage Alcohol
Jacek Koziel, assistant professor of agricultural and biosystems engineering, is leading a research project that's attempting to develop and refine two technologies that work together to efficiently purify and remove bad-tasting components from fuel ethanol. Details: http://www.iastate.edu/~nscentral/news/2006/aug/ethanol.shtml
Plant Sciences Institute Funds Innovative Research
Matt Liebman and Madan Bhattacharyya of agronomy, Bryony Bonning of entomology, John Hill of plant pathology and Clark Ford of food science and human nutrition were among those receiving start-up funding from the Plant Sciences Institute to increase the value of Iowa's crops. The recent awards came from a competitive grants program.
Appraise Root Systems to Evaluate No-Tillage Performance
The Iowa Learning Farm in northwest Iowa is hosting a field day Sept. 6 to illustrate the importance of no-tillage for soil quality and crop productivity.
Deadline & Reminders
Aug. 28: 25x'25 vision barbecue and rally, central campus, 6 p.m.
Sept. 5: Fall Convocation, 3:30 p.m., Food Science Courtyard
Sept. 8: Potluck lunch for Barb Osborn family, 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., Horticulture Hall atrium, Contact: Kim Gaul, 4-3718 or kimgaul@iastate.edu
Sept. 8: Northern Research and Demonstration Farm anniversary celebration, 10:30 a.m., Kanawha, more: https://farms.cals.iastate.edu/research-farms-field-days-and-meetings
Sept. 14: McNay Research and Demonstration Farm anniversary celebration, 10 a.m., near Chariton
Communications Kiosk
Brenton Center can Help Promote Events
Contact the Brenton Center when you have announcements for events that you want to run on the monitors on the ground floor of the Curtiss Hall rotunda. PowerPoint slides, web addresses, still images, Flash or AVI movies (Note: AVI files should be a minimum of 720x480 pixels) are acceptable. Contact: Rod Fischer, videoguy@iastate.edu.
Infograzing
First Budget Open Forum Tuesday
Through several open forums, the Budget Model Review and Implementation Committee seeks feedback on the final report and proposed budget model and implementation plan for 2006-2009. The first forum for faculty and staff will be Tuesday, Aug. 29, from 4 to 5 p.m. in the Campanile Room, Memorial Union. Another will take place from noon to 1 p.m. Sept. 6 in the Campanile Room, Memorial Union. An open forum for P&S employees will be from noon to 1 p.m. Sept. 7 at the Memorial Union Gallery. The forums will take comments to the "Fourth Report of the Budget Model Development Committee,"
Watershed Project Video Airs During News Programs
A new "Iowa Minute" on a Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service watershed project at Hewitt Creek in Northeast Iowa is running on CBS and NBC affiliates in Des Moines and Sioux City. It was produced by the Iowa Farm Bureau, which provided a grant for the project. ISU Extension specialists John Rodecap and Chad Ingels are providing local leadership for implementation.
External Voices
Alum was Able to do What he Liked
"I've been able to do what I like all my life. A lot of people can't do that. ... I like the government, and I like farming. They are my two loves." --James Clark Jr., ISU agriculture alumnus, Maryland farmer and former state senator who died Aug. 18 (see item in College News).
Professor Important in Students' College Choices
"Research shows that one of the main reasons a student chooses a college is the quality of teachers. And our family's recent visits to six campuses taught us the hard way how important meeting a faculty member can be in the college-selection process. ...Of our six campus visits, only two were positive experiences with professors. ...[My daughter] wasn't won over by the schools because the gardens were well kept or because the buildings looked new. Her interest wasn't a result of the perky admissions staff or the numerous computer labs that grace every campus. Instead she is picking a college because she established a personal relationship with a professor whom she felt she could trust." --Stephen Winzenburg, communication professor at Grand View College (Aug. 15, Des Moines Register)
Marginalia
Weather Proverbs Have Place in ISU Art Exhibit
Iowa farmer and poet Michael Carey contributed poetry for the Brunnier's current art exhibition, "obsessed: Images of Weather" (see College News). Amateur poets have long coined proverbs that describe and predict the weather, such as: When crickets' chirps grow loud and strong, a storm will rage before too long. And, January fog will freeze a hog. Next issue: Sept. 4
Ag Online
Editor: Ed Adcock, edadcock@iastate.edu
Phone: (515) 294-5616
Web site: http://www.ag.iastate.edu/aginfo/
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